An Account of the Danes and Norwegians in England, Scotland, and IrelandWorsaae, Jens Jacob Asmussen
History
An Account of the Danes and Norwegians in England, Scotland, and Ireland
Worsaae, Jens Jacob Asmussen
Great Britain -- Civilization -- Scandinavian influences; Northmen -- Great Britain; Northmen -- Ireland
For the rest, names of places prove that the Norwegians had also settled
themselves along the coast to the south of the Oykill. On the narrow
naze called Tarbet Ness, between Dornoch and Cromarty Firths, are the
villages of Arboll and Wanby, as well as the town of Tain, whose Gaelic
name, “Bailed Dhuich” (or St. Duthus’ Town), shows at once that “Tain”
must be of foreign origin. Tain is, moreover, a corruption of “Þing,” a
_Thing_; and in like manner the somewhat considerable town of Dingwall,
at the extremity of Cromarty Firth, was originally called “Þingavöllr,”
or _Thingwalla_; whence the remarkable fact is evident, that the
Norwegians were once sufficiently numerous in these districts to have
both an inferior _Thing_ (Tain) and a superior one (Dingwall). Dingwall,
like Tain, besides its original Norwegian name, has also the Gaelic one
of Inverphaeron. As the Norwegians, therefore, must have permanently
possessed considerable tracts in these districts, it is clear that their
settlements on the east coast of Scotland must have extended quite down
to Inverness-shire and Moray. The before-mentioned stronghold of
Burghead in Moray, which the Northmen maintained to the last extremity,
lies pretty close to the east of Cromarty Firth, the inlet to Dingwall.
As the Norwegian language and other Norwegian characteristics have given
way to the Gaelic tongue, manners, and customs, in the former Norwegian
districts on the north coast of Scotland, from Clyth Ness in Caithness
to Dingwall on the Firth of Cromarty, we can scarcely be surprised that
the north coast of Sutherland, whose rocks and heaths offered much fewer
allurements to the Norwegians than the fertile valleys and plains of the
east coast, and which were therefore far less colonized by them, should
have preserved distinct traces of these foreign conquerors only in a few
names of places. A remarkable instance of the Gaelic language having
expelled the Norwegian is to be found immediately on the borders of
Caithness, in the valley of Halladale. In a river there are two
waterfalls, of which the uppermost is called Forsinard, and the lower
one Forsindin. In both these names the Norwegian “Fors” is not to be
mistaken; but Gaelic terminations have in later times been added by the
Gaels, so that Forsinard now signifies the upper Fors, and Forsindin the
under, or lower, Fors. Halladale is likewise frequently called by the
additional Gaelic name of Strath—“Strath Halladale.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account